Happy Spring Break everyone!!! I hope everyone is having a great time with family this week. The weather looks good enough for everyone to enjoy outdoor fun. It is a little windy here today so, we are taking a break from the outdoor activities. It is a good thing too, we have been going outside and playing and going on walks so much, an indoor movie is just what we need today. Happy Spring Break friends and Happy St. Patrick's Day on Thursday. I am Irish and we do not take St. Patrick's Day lightly in my family. Growing up, we had parties and corned beef and cabbage every year so, of course, we had some corned beef and cabbage this year. We had it early this year so we could share with friends because what is corned beef and cabbage without sharing it with friends.
Today, I have a few things to share with you, so hold on to your hats.
An important part of being an artist is getting your work out there. Some artist use online sources (me), galleries (I tried it once), and publication (I have done that too). Grant it, I'm not the most successful at any of these things BUT I have tried them and so should you. In high school, I entered a local art contest. The contest was to illustrate a lullaby. I chose "Indian Lullaby". I had never heard it before but the lyrics were very visual, perfect for a painting. Here are the lyrics:
Indian Lullaby
Bed is too hard for my tiredness.
Give me a hill soft with leaves.
Tuck a cloud up under my chin,
Lord, blow the moon out, please.
Rock me to sleep in a cradle of dreams.
Sing me a lullaby of leaves.
Tuck a cloud up under my chin,
Lord, blow the moon out, please.
Isn't that just beautiful? So, I painted what I saw as I read the lullaby. Let me first tell you what was going through my head during this time. I was busy with another contest that I wanted to win so much more, so I worked harder on another painting. The lullaby painting I popped out quickly and did not give a whole lot of thought to it. I am not trying to toot my own horn, I'm just saying that sometimes the things you pay the least attention to, become the most beautiful and noticed artwork. Well, my painting got noticed. I won second place, prize money, and a publication in a book of lullabies. I can not find where you can buy the book currently but here is a picture of the book and my painting inside it:
So, I am a published painter. But, college came along and another opportunity presented itself for me to be published again. I was currently working with the Anthropology department cleaning, labeling, and cataloging artifacts. The school year ended but I needed a summer job. My boss knowing I was an art student minoring in photography, asked if I wanted to photograph grave stones for the History department. Needing a job, I said yes. That summer, in East Texas, being....HOT, I went and photographed headstones and took video with a group of history majors and graduate students. I can not remember all the pictures I took or all the cemeteries I went to, but it was fun and informative and well, sad. Seeing all those forgotten headstones and going to a children cemetery, it was a rough summer but, very fulfilling. At the end of it all and by the time Fall came, my photographs were published in a small booklet. Here it is:
Honestly, if you flipped open a page and asked, did you take this picture, I could not confirm or deny because it was so long ago and so many pictures. I was not the only photographer so, it could be anyone. I know my photos are in it though and if I looked up my saved pictures on my computer, I can remember better but here it is.
The lesson to be learned here is to keep working hard and stay open to many opportunities for your work. Some unique situations may arise and I would advise to take them. You can grow as a person and an artist and even more so, your resume can get just a little bit longer.
Before I go I do want to share an artist with you who my in-laws shared with me. Just check it out for something unique
HERE.
So remember to be the best artist you can be!!
